Virginia hammers Lehigh, Final Score 61-43

After taking the Roman Legends Classic tournament title on Monday night, the Virginia Cavaliers continued their winnings ways Friday night in Charlottesville against the Lehigh Mountain Hawks. In what’s been a bit of a habit over the past few years, it was a slow start for the Hoos before absolutely taking care of business in the second half, coming away with a 61-43 win.

That’s four straight wins for Virginia, and Tony Bennett’s 300th win with the Hoos.

Both teams took some time to settle in offensively, trading turnovers to open the first half, and not a lot more action happening in the ensuing minutes. Ten minutes into the game, it was locked up at 13 on fairly even stats, shooting 6-of-13 and 6-of-14 respectively, with each team giving up four turnovers and pulling down 8 rebounds.

Each time the Hoos tried to pull away in the first half, Lehigh was able to answer, but don’t read that to mean there was any sort of offensive display. The offenses fell victim to stout defenses on both sides, with the teams closing out the half by going a combined 7-of-30 from the field. Virginia would go into the locker room up 25-21.

Virginia’s defense picked up where it left off to open up the second half. Lehigh remained scoreless for the first three and a half minutes into the second half, with Virginia leading by as much as 10 during that stretch.

But unlike the first half, the Hoos made it look easy in the second. The defense showed up in true Tony Bennett fashion, locking down the Mountain Hawks. Kihei Clark made easy work of dribble penetration, dishing and protecting the ball to create opportunities for his teammates.

Kadin Shedrick continued to impress on Friday night with some impressive footwork on both ends of the floor, including two beautiful blocks early in the game, finishing with three blocks, his sixth straight game with at least three. He also quietly put up 8 points on a perfect 4-for-4 shooting night on 20 minutes of playing time.

Virginia will get to relax the weekend as the football team looks to end the Hokies’ football season in Charlottesville. The Hoos are back in action on Monday night when the Iowa Hawkeyes come to town as part of the ACC-B1G challenge.